interceding

A Poem

the pine trees are praying thousands of conesmillions of scales and bracts sizzling crackling voices raisedin supplicationare they asking for courage to open although winter may not be over and freezing rain might yet silver trunk and limb and needleare they begging to be brave enoughto shrug off self-protection and cast seeds of life wherever the wind might blow

the woman in the park walking her dogsays oh they just snap and fizz like thatbecause the sun dries the conesshe’s right of course but when she moves on I stay behindI let the trees pray for me

Jeannie Prinsen

Jeannie Prinsen lives with her husband, daughter, and son in Kingston, Ontario, where she teaches an online course in essay writing at Queen’s University. Her writing has previously appeared in Fathom, Relief, Barren, and elsewhere. Find her online on Twitter: @JeanniePrinsen.

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